SEATTLE – All week, Seattle Seahawks players insisted Sunday night was just another game.
In Arizona, the Cardinals were treating it as anything but.
“We addressed this game as we wanted to show the nation that we’re for real this year,” cornerback Patrick Peterson said after the Cardinals’ 39-32 triumph. “We thought this was an opportunity for us to come in here and show the world that we are a contender, not a pretender.”
Rallying past the two-time defending NFC champions in prime time might have a little more shine if the Seahawks hadn’t already let four other fourth-quarter leads slip away this season.
But there’s an emotional aspect to sending fans to the exits with two minutes to go at CenturyLink Field, where the Seahawks have been so formidable. And the tangible impact can’t be denied.
Up three games with seven to go, the NFC West is the Cardinals’ to lose.
“Once we beat Cleveland and going into the bye, everything was about ‘take control of the division,’” defensive lineman Calais Campbell said. “It feels really good to do that.”
The Cardinals did it Sunday despite blowing an early 19-0 lead and falling behind early in the fourth quarter, thanks to a pair of strip-sacks on quarterback Carson Palmer as the Seahawks’ pass rush exploited and exacerbated issues with the protection.
“After some disastrous drives, basically giving them 14 points,” coach Bruce Arians said, “to come right back speaks volumes about the character we have in that locker room.”
source: usatoday.com
